40d and cheap ebay batteries

[miremare]

Hello

does anyone have experience of buying non branded batteries from ebay.

Ive used non branded in my nokia n95 with a high mah and they have been fine, im just worried in case the non branded ones leak.
the price differences are obviously ranging from £3 each to £50 for branded, if any one could let me know what experieces they have had or what other brands they have bought,

many thanks Miremare

[lkb-28]

Hello Miremare;

Welcome to POTN...

I have bought several non-branded batteries from eBay for different bodies over the years... BUT, as with all things eBay - it's a case of "buyer beware".

Buy ONLY from reputable dealers, and read the small print closely! You'd be amazed what they DON'T say! £3 will NOT get you a good battery, but you can do better than the Canon full-price of c. £45. I would aim for c. £25-30 for a decent battery... and watch out for the Ah power...

For the 40D, provided you get a good battery - you will only need ONE spare. The battery lasts for ever!

Cheers;

Lee

[Terrywoodenpic]

I have a number of genuine Canon and Minolta batteries, and a slightly larger number of lookalikes from Ebay. My G6 ones also fit the 40D.
The only battery to fail so far, was a genuine Canon one.
Canon do not make their own Batteries... like the lookalikes they are made under contract by specialist manufacturers.
However avoid counterfeit ones that purport to be genuine Canon ones. These are unlikely to be other than rip off's of dubious quality. Genuine canon ones are not available anywhere much below the canon local price.

[brecklundin]

I bought my 40D batteries at Amazon.com for $40/ea with free 2-day shipping. So yeah, you can do better that what would be about $80-$85US/ea.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0001GMIOE/ref=dp_olp_2

I ask myself if I want to risk my better equipment, which I depend on for my income or my enjoyment of my life, on cheaply made batteries. And of course the answer is no...if times are tight then maybe I might for a short term fix. One rational I use is, if the battery has a meltdown and it's brand-x, who do you seek restitution from? If it's a genune Canon product, well, at least you get your rear beaten down by high dollar corporate lawyers. ;)

[Banno]

No to eBay

Yes to Sterlingtek (http://sterlingtek.com/)

[Ukuleleman]

Don't buy anything from eBay unless you have a burning desire to be ripped off.

I believe Sterlingtech are good but I haven't used them myself.

I can recommend 'Batteries Plus+' , just bought three new batteries for my new camera, excellent service, no postage. 3 batteries for my 5D @ £11.95 each which includes VAT.

Canon prices are a joke, two batteries for my 400D (I use a battery grip) would have added £100.00 to the price of the camera

[TeamSpeed]

Don't buy anything from eBay unless you have a burning desire to be ripped off.
No to eBay

Yes to Sterlingtek (http://sterlingtek.com/)

??? Accstation is on Ebay with a tremendous reputation and sells great batteries. Eforcity as well. If you buy aftermarkets, you can buy from them with no problems, and with your first purchase, they give you a 10% off coupon for your next purchase with them. I have bought several over the last 3 years with no problems. Please don't label all sellers on ebay as bad, just because there are scammers out there. Just do your homework like anything else in life.

[rayatphonix]

I've used Sterlingtek for several years and have never had an issue. Cheaper and IMHO as least as good as Canon's batteries.

[greg20d]

No to eBay

Yes to Sterlingtek (http://sterlingtek.com/)

I have 3 sterlingtek and they seem to work great

[anshu]

Also try DiamondBack they are awesome, I have 4 of their batteries for my 40d.

[Ukuleleman]

??? Accstation is on Ebay with a tremendous reputation and sells great batteries. Eforcity as well. If you buy aftermarkets, you can buy from them with no problems, and with your first purchase, they give you a 10% off coupon for your next purchase with them. I have bought several over the last 3 years with no problems. Please don't label all sellers on ebay as bad, just because there are scammers out there. Just do your homework like anything else in life.

It seems that you have been lucky in your choice of seller on e-bay, but unless you know who you are dealing with it's a gamble every time on that site and why gamble when there are plenty of people on this site who have experience with reputable dealers, most of whom don't even bother to advertise their wares on e-Bay, I wonder why that is?

[DerAngriff]

I'm 'noid about the quality and safety of 3rd party batteries. I don't think Canon batteries are price prohibitive.

[Kenski]

I have two genuine canon batteries and now 6 off brand ebay batteries and for the price, they are worth it. After a number of charges they start to lose power but I have a buddy that is some kinda of battery engineer (His dad used to be the senior VP of eveready battery) and he takes them and flashes them???? I can't remember what it is called and they seem to work just as good as before. The only reason why I have so many batteries is because they are cheap and when Im out somewhere where I can't get to electric, I have batteries on backup.

[TeamSpeed]

It seems that you have been lucky in your choice of seller on e-bay, but unless you know who you are dealing with it's a gamble every time on that site and why gamble when there are plenty of people on this site who have experience with reputable dealers, most of whom don't even bother to advertise their wares on e-Bay, I wonder why that is?

Not lucky, its called due diligence. Again look at the feedback, google the vendor in question, use toolhaus.org, etc. Out of 500 transactions on ebay, with diligence and research, I have only been bit twice, once the dispute filed went into my favor, and the other didn't. So one unsatisfactory transaction out of 500. That is not luck, that is following a certain set of steps that I have outlined to protect myself. I have outlined those steps in a sticky in the Market Watch, it is a good read for those not comfortable on Ebay.

[Shahid]

??? Accstation is on Ebay with a tremendous reputation and sells great batteries. Eforcity as well. If you buy aftermarkets, you can buy from them with no problems, and with your first purchase, they give you a 10% off coupon for your next purchase with them. I have bought several over the last 3 years with no problems. Please don't label all sellers on ebay as bad, just because there are scammers out there. Just do your homework like anything else in life.


I've bought from Accstation and their batteries work fine in the XTi and 40D. No issues at all.

[jonnythan]

No to eBay

Yes to Sterlingtek (http://sterlingtek.com/)

This claim has no basis whatsoever other than fear-mongering.

Yes to eBay, specifically Accstation. I've used lots of their batteries over the years and every single one was at least as good as the "genuine" thing.

All of these batteries are made by a small handful of Asian companies. They're all pretty much the same.

BTW, the only reason people recommend Sterlingtek over, say, Accstation is that Sterlingtek has a cheapo Yahoo store that feels more "trustworthy" or "reliable" than an eBay seller, despite Accstation's (and others') tremendous amount of consistently positive feedback.

[TeeTee]

The first reply to this thread was dead on.

It is very much BUYER BEWARE. Bought two supposed 'genuine' Canon batteries for my 40D. One works fine, the other doesn't seem to be able to charge. Both have Canon stickers and look similar to the original battery, but the fine details prove it to be a fake. Watch out.

[Tumeg]

I currently use a Lenmar battery, for my 40D.
It has 1500mAh. so it has fewer than the Canon batteries, but it works fine...

[Banno]

This claim has no basis whatsoever other than fear-mongering.

I'm sorry if you feel that way. Didn't mean to insight fear or anything of the sort. I was purely speaking from experience that some eBay items are not quite what you hoped they would be, and that through my experiences Sterlingtek work very well and are cheap.

Yes to eBay, specifically Accstation. I've used lots of their batteries over the years and every single one was at least as good as the "genuine" thing.

Good to hear that Accstation also is a reliable source of cheaper batteries, might look into them for my next purchase and see how they go.

BTW, the only reason people recommend Sterlingtek over, say, Accstation is that Sterlingtek has a cheapo Yahoo store that feels more "trustworthy" or "reliable" than an eBay seller, despite Accstation's (and others') tremendous amount of consistently positive feedback.

I think that is possibly more untrue than my original statement...? :confused: That is not the only reason at all. They are cheap and they work well. Are these not reasons to use Sterlingtek?

Anyhow I hope that the OP found some great cheap batteries and they are working well :)

[jonnythan]

I think that is possibly more untrue than my original statement...? :confused: That is not the only reason at all. They are cheap and they work well. Are these not reasons to use Sterlingtek?

Anyhow I hope that the OP found some great cheap batteries and they are working well :)

There's nothing wrong with Sterlingtek.

The only reason to recommend Sterlingtek while recommending against some eBay vendors is the Yahoo "storefront" that apparently justifies double the price. It's a shrewd move for them, I suppose, since it obviously works.

They're the same batteries with a different sticker (and sometimes not even that). It's not like Sterlingtek is a battery manufacturer - they probably use the exact same battery vendor as most eBay sellers.

[jonnythan]

The first reply to this thread was dead on.

It is very much BUYER BEWARE. Bought two supposed 'genuine' Canon batteries for my 40D. One works fine, the other doesn't seem to be able to charge. Both have Canon stickers and look similar to the original battery, but the fine details prove it to be a fake. Watch out.

They probably are both genuine Canon batteries. Just used, and one has a dead cell from being drained too deeply or similar.

[TeeTee]

They probably are both genuine Canon batteries. Just used, and one has a dead cell from being drained too deeply or similar.

Nope Jonny they're quite clearly not genuine.

- The shade of blue on the stickers is much greener on the fakes
- The contacts aren't nearly as uniform in construction/placement as the original
- Certain stamps & details are omitted from the replicas

They look fairly genuine on their own, but a side by side comparison forces me to believe they're fake. Oh well, have PM'd the seller and am awaiting his response. These are the batteries I bought FYI:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=160243990690

[jonnythan]

That seller's feedback is littered with negative feedback about no emails, slow shipping, and fake Canon-branded equipment.

Read the feedback before you buy!

Sorry to hear it.

[TeeTee]

Yeah I jumped on it and that was silly of me, got sloppy as it wasn't a high price purchase.

Oh well lesson learnt, at least one works! :P

[DepthOfField]

No to eBay

Yes to Sterlingtek (http://sterlingtek.com/)

I just placed a order for 2. How can you go wrong, 2000mAh and cost less then half of the Canon version? :eek:

Thanks Banno !

[Banno]

No drama's

Although after careful consideration I am going to slightly change my original statement:


Caution to eBay

Yes to Sterlingtek

[Ukuleleman]

This claim has no basis whatsoever other than fear-mongering.

Yes to eBay, specifically Accstation. I've used lots of their batteries over the years and every single one was at least as good as the "genuine" thing.

All of these batteries are made by a small handful of Asian companies. They're all pretty much the same.

BTW, the only reason people recommend Sterlingtek over, say, Accstation is that Sterlingtek has a cheapo Yahoo store that feels more "trustworthy" or "reliable" than an eBay seller, despite Accstation's (and others') tremendous amount of consistently positive feedback.

Try accusing this guy of 'Fear Mongering'!

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=520008

[jms_uk]

I did ask on the topic dedicated to aftermarket batteries, but as noone replied, i can aske here too :)

has anybody had any experience with Phottix batteries?

[Walczak Photo]

Just my own $.02 worth as both an Ebay buyer and seller...

In the several hundred transactions I've done on Ebay over the years, I've only been bitten twice as a a buyer (and one of those times was my own fault for not checking the sellers feedback which was virtually all negative) and only once as a seller (and the buyer ended up getting banned from Ebay because of it). Certainly the expression "buyer beware" does apply to Ebay...but then that expression applies to virtually anything these days. You can even get bitten in walk in stores just as easily. The truth of the matter is that I've gotten ripped off more by places such as Best Buy, Circuit City and (especially) Radio Shark then I ever have on Ebay...and luck has very little to do with it. As has already been stated, check not only the sellers feedback but also check other resources on the internet...if the company is fraudulent in any way, you can pretty much bet that folks have something posted about them somewhere on the net. Just do a Google search on the name in question and generally speaking, "the truth will be revealed".

I would also suggest reading feedback with a "critical eye" as it were. When I recently purchased my 40D, I was considering buying one from "Sunshine Electronics"...they're feedback on Ebay looked pretty good (considering the number of sales they do) but the number of complaints about them outside of Ebay was pretty scary. These complaints weren't simply "oh...those guys suck" (such as some of the fear mongering found around here) but a great deal of it was very detailed and rather consistent (bait & switch, high pressure up-selling, poor/dishonest complaint resolution, etc.). Further after reading this, I tried to contact Sunshine directly in regards to some of these issues and they never returned my messages at all. As someone else said, diligence counts and I purchased my camera elsewhere for a similar price (Amazon.com in fact). In a nutshell, while it is true that you can't always please everyone and that there -are- people who can not be satisfied not matter what you do as a seller, if you read feedback carefully you can usually tell legit complaints from the bogus rants.

Now specifically to the topic at hand, I've purchased several batteries off Ebay over the past couple of years (mostly from Itrimmings). I've gotten batteries for my old Rebel XT, my cell phones and most recently for my 40D and I have only had -1- battery fail on me...and that was only after a year of rather intense use (it simply no longer holds a charge). As long as you're a "smart shopper", then Ebay can be a wonderful resource for picking up bargains...batteries or otherwise.

It's your choice as to whether or not you wish to live your life ruled fear and paranoia...you can simply choose to be a smart shopper :D.

Again, just my $.02 worth...
Jim